Living Seas

Find out more about our Living Seas

Help secure the protection of our marine wildlife

After years of pressure from The Wildlife Trusts and a huge amount of public support, the Marine and Coastal Access Act of 2009 promised us an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas around the coast by 2012. One exciting outcome of this was a brand new classification of protected area, a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ). Over the last two years and a lot of hard work, four regional stakeholder groups have put forward 127 MCZs for consultation and designation.

Sign our Petition Fish campaign and join our Save our Seas online community to show your support for our marine wildlife through the protection of these MCZs. Keep up-to-date with our campaign using Bernard the Gurnard's social media sites.

What are Living Seas?

Living Seas: A rocky reef bursting with brightly coloured fish, corals and sponges? Living Seas: A boat trip in the company of leaping dolphins and playful seals? Living Seas: Fishermen hauling nets that are brimful of big, tasty fish?

Living Seas are all these things and more.

But the UK’s seas are not Living Seas. Decades of neglect have left them damaged and degraded, a shadow of their former diversity and abundance. We urgently need your help to bring them back to life. The next five years are critical. It is literally ‘make or break’ time. With new laws and Government commitments in the offing, we have a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity. If we make the very best of that opportunity, pushing every step of the way, our seas will turn the corner and start to recover their health. If we do not, they will continue on their downward spiral. Please sign Petition Fish today to show the Government that you support our MCZs.

In Living Seas:

People are inspired by marine wildlife and value the sea for the many ways in which it supports our quality of life.
The natural environment is adapting well to a changing climate, and ocean processes are helping to slow down climate change.
Wildlife and habitats are recovering from past decline as our use of the seas’ resources becomes environmentally sustainable.

Our Living North Sea

Please visit the Wildlife Trust's North Sea Project website for more information about the diversity of life and habitats in the North Sea, as well as more information about the North Sea's MCZs.